NEW YORK -- Despite his best efforts to change the Yankees’ minds, Aaron Judge was not on the club’s American League Wild Card roster against the Red Sox on Tuesday.
The captain will instead continue to rehab in hopes of being active for a potential AL Division Series.
“I think he’s had a good couple of weeks of really grinding and doing everything he possibly can to be an option,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We just felt like he’s not quite there yet. Hopefully we’re able to move on and he spends these next few days continuing to work his way back.”
Judge said he understood what the worst-case scenario could be as he pushes to return from a moderate strain of the soleus muscle in his right calf, an injury that normally takes at least three weeks to fully heal.
On the eve of the American League Wild Card Series, the reigning AL MVP continued to make his case for being included on the 26-man roster, both publicly and behind closed doors. Boone said he met with Judge and the club’s athletic trainers after Monday’s workout.
“We just sat down and talked about it, kind of worked through it,” Boone said. “We’ve got a long-standing relationship. We just had a frank, honest relationship and made a call.”
Judge performed indoor hitting and throwing on Sunday, and had four plate appearances in live BP on Monday, producing two walks, a strikeout looking and a ground ball back to the mound.
“I don’t think he’s all the way back,” Boone said. “But the fact he was able to go do that, there’s a lot of boxes you’ve got to check to be able to get to that point. So that’s encouraging.”
The best-of-three Wild Card Series vs. the Red Sox -- a rematch of last season -- begins at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday in the Bronx.
Any progress in the running department would have provided a clearer indication of what Judge might have been able to provide. He had been running on an anti-gravity treadmill, but hadn't attempted running outdoors, let alone cutting on the basepaths. Judge did not run on the field during Monday’s workout.
It has been one week since Judge received a platelet-poor plasma injection in his right calf, intended to speed healing. He acknowledged that his attempted return has been aggressive; as he has put it, “If it happened in May, maybe the timeline is a little different.”
Judge reiterated that his plan was to play right field when he returns, not just serve as the designated hitter or as a pinch-hitter.
“To be a full player, he’s going to have to get back to [running],” Boone said. “We’ll see. Hopefully these next several days for him are beneficial and he continues to move the needle, and hopefully we’re able to move on.”
With Judge inactive, it likely means additional at-bats for Heliot Ramos, who batted .198 (23-for-116) with four home runs and 12 RBIs after being acquired from the Giants in August.
A 2024 National League All-Star, Ramos has hit left-handed pitching well, which could be important as Boston is starting Payton Tolle (Game 1) and potentially Ranger Suarez (Game 3) in this series. Ramos has a .907 OPS against lefties this season.
“Honestly, I just want to gain everybody's trust,” Ramos said. “This is what I'm here for. At the end of the day, the way that Judge is -- his presence, the caliber of player that he is, nobody can compare to that. But at the end of the day, I'm me, and I know I'm ready for it. I'm ready to go.”
This has been a tumultuous season for Judge, who missed 84 games with a fractured right rib before returning on Sept. 8. He lasted just seven games before the calf strain forced him to exit a Sept. 16 contest at Target Field.
When on the field, the 34-year-old has slashed .241/.360/.511 with 18 home runs.
“I’ve been out for most of the year, and this team has picked up the slack,” Judge said. “A lot of young guys that we called up stepped right in and filled some huge holes for us. … The boys are going to be fine no matter what, but I’d love to be out there with them.”